Anthropic has been forced to pull its two newest AI models - Fable 5 and Mythos 5 - offline after an export control order from the Trump administration, citing unspecified 'national security concerns.' The order, delivered via letter last Friday, gave no specifics and required Anthropic to ensure the models couldn't be used by foreign nationals. Anthropic, noting that many of its own employees are foreign nationals, decided the safest move was to yank the models entirely.

The White House reportedly got tipped off after Amazon researchers allegedly found a way to bypass Fable 5's guardrails, with CEO Andy Jassy raising the issue directly. This all unfolded on a Friday afternoon, conveniently distracting from the administration's ongoing efforts to negotiate a treaty for the war it started in Iran.

Anthropic's rivals might not need to worry about similar treatment, as Sean O'Kane noted on TechCrunch's Equity podcast: 'Anthropic has not had the best relationship with the Trump administration in a way that stands apart from the other leading AI labs.' The move feels retaliatory, especially given an ongoing lawsuit between Anthropic and the government after the company was labeled a supply-chain risk.

Leading cybersecurity experts have signed an open letter asking Trump to revoke the order, arguing it's dangerous to pull advanced cybersecurity capabilities from U.S. network defenders. Anthropic itself noted that similar jailbreaks could be found in other models. But hey, maybe this is good publicity - as Rebecca Bellan pointed out, 'everyone loves a bad boy.' Downloads of Claude shot up after the last big blow-up, and this could make Anthropic's models seem even more powerful.

'In some ways this feels like a microcosm of a lot of the discussion around AI,' said Anthony, 'where people like Sam Altman and Jensen Huang are saying, “Hey, let’s try to lower the temperature. Why is everybody mad at us?” Well, you spent the last couple years essentially saying you’ve built this God machine that will take jobs away from everyone. It’s not exactly a shock that people don’t feel great about this.'